Using Dreamweaver 5 By now, you should have a functional template, with one simple page based on that template. For the remaining pages, we ll create each page based on the template and then save each one, replacing the blank ones that are already there. On each page, we will look at different elements that may be used in a page. Bulleted and Numbered Lists In HTML there are three types of lists 1. One of them, definition lists will be covered later. The ones we will cover now are numbered lists referred to in HTML as Ordered Lists, and bulleted list which are referred to as Unordered Lists. Each paragraph within either type of list is referred to as a List Item. The example below shows both types of lists, along with the HTML that would be used to generate the list. Creating these lists in Dreamweaver is a lot like creating similar lists in a word processor, though the limitations of HTML still apply. For instance in a Word processor it might be easy to create a bulleted list that uses fancy symbols or images for the bullets but HTML doesn t have this capability (unless you use CSS which we ll learn about in a later section). Some people simply use regular paragraphs with an image at the beginning of each one but this isn t a great option. 1 For more information about HTML s lists, check the lists description in the official HTML specification at http://www.w3.org/tr/html4/struct/lists.html Steve O Neil 2006 Page 1 of 13 http://www.oneil.com.au/pc/
Exercise 1 Creating a List 1) Select New from the File menu ( [Ctrl] [L] ). 2) Select the Templates tab. 3) Select the Main Pages template from the Fancie s Flowerpots site. 4) Make sure the option is ticked. 5) Click Create. 6) Save the new document as contact.html. [Ctrl] [S] 7) When prompted, choose Yes to replace the existing document with that name. 8) Change the heading text and page title to Contact Us. 9) In the Main area, replace the text with the following. Be sure to format the beginning word of each line in bold as indicated. If you would like to drop in to Francie s Flowerpots store or get in touch with us for custom orders or other information, our details are listed below. Phone: 9123 9876 Fax: 9123 6789 Email: info@franciesflowerpots.com.au Address: 2/37 Petal Place, Dianella, Western Australia, 6059 10) Select the email address in the text you have typed. 11) In the Link property of the properties panel, type the email address (or copy and paste it if you prefer). Before the email address, type mailto: (including the colon). Note If you want a hyperlink to link to an email address, it must include the mailto: part. This will mean that if a user clicks on it, the web browser will tell their email program to create a new email addressed to the email address in the link. 12) At the beginning of the first line (If you would like ) insert the image named icon_contact.gif. 13) Change the Align property of the image so that it is right aligned on the page. The page should so far look like the example below. Steve O Neil 2006 Page 2 of 13 http://www.oneil.com.au/pc/
14) Select the four lines that begin with the bold text. We want to create a bulleted (unordered) list but we ll start by trying a numbered (ordered) list. 15) In the Properties panel, click on the Ordered List icon. 16) With the list still selected, right-click and select List and the Properties. The top options are for changing the entire list while the bottom options are for changing selected list items. The style options let you choose from between HTML s five ordered list styles which include numbered, alphabetical and roman numeral lists. The Start count lets you choose what number the list will start with (1 if you don t specify otherwise). 17) Choose a list style and click OK. 18) With the list still selected, click the Unordered List icon. 19) Save the changes to the file. Steve O Neil 2006 Page 3 of 13 http://www.oneil.com.au/pc/
Definition Lists The third type of list in HTML is the definition list. A definition list contains two types of paragraphs. There are definition terms and definition data, much like an entry in a dictionary might consist of a defined term followed by a detailed definition for the term. In HTML, Definition Term paragraphs normally look much like normal paragraphs with the Definition Data paragraphs being slightly indented. A list of links is a common use for this so we ll create one on the Links page. An example of a definition list appears below, along with the source HTML. Notice that bold formatting has been added to each of the definition terms. Exercise 2 Creating a Definition List 1) Create a new page based on the same template we used in the last exercise. 2) Save the new page as links.html, replacing the existing page with that name. 3) Change the heading text and page title to Links. 4) Delete the text in the main area. 5) From the Text menu, select List and then Definition List. 6) Type Learn to Pot and press [Enter]. The first line (a definition Term line) is followed by a Definition Data line which will be indented. 7) On the second line, type http://www.pots.com/ and press [Enter]. 8) Select the address and make it in to a hyperlink. 9) Complete the list so that it appears as follows. 10) If you reach a new line and no longer want it to be a part of the list, you can go to the Text menu, select List and then None. Note Your definition list doesn t have to alternate between definition terms and definition data. If you view the HTML for the list you have created, you will see that each of the Definition Term lines begins and ends with a DT tag while the others have a DD tag. You can easily edit the HTML to have several consecutive DD lines if you need to. Steve O Neil 2006 Page 4 of 13 http://www.oneil.com.au/pc/
11) Before the first line, add the image icon_links.gif and set it to right alignment on the page. 12) Save the changes to the document. It should look like the example below. Exercise 3 Creating a List Using a Table Sometimes the best way to create the kind of listing you want is by having the items listed in a table. We ll use a table to create a listing of pots on the products page. 1) Create a new page based on the same template we used in the last exercise. 2) Save the new page as gallery.html, replacing the existing page with that name. 3) Change the heading text and page title to Gallery. 4) Delete the text in the main area. 5) Enter the following text. A selection of our products can be seen below. Remember that we have many more types of pots available. For a full listing of our pots, or to request a custom made pot, see our Contact Us page. 6) Create a hyperlink so that the words Contact Us link to the file contact.html. 7) One a new line after the text, insert a table that is 8 rows high and 3 columns wide. You can press [Ctrl] [Alt] [T] or use the icon on the toolbar as a quick way to create the table. Choose the Header Top option as you are creating the table. 8) Once the table has been created, click in one of the top cells. In the properties panel along the bottom, the Header option will appear ticked but will be blank in the other cells. An HTML header cell is usually displayed as bold and centre aligned in a web browser and it is easy to modify the format of header cells later using styles. 9) In the first row of the first cell enter Name. In the second cell enter Description. Leave the third cell blank. Steve O Neil 2006 Page 5 of 13 http://www.oneil.com.au/pc/
10) Complete the next row as follows. The image to use is the file pot1.gif with the Alt text Red Earth. 11) Complete the rest of the table as shown below. Each of the images should be in order so that the image for the next row will be pot1.gif. For each image, the alternate text should be the name of the pot. Steve O Neil 2006 Page 6 of 13 http://www.oneil.com.au/pc/
When you created the table, the table width may have been set to 100%. In the case of this particular table that won t really matter since the contents of the table probably need that much room but widths can be easily cleared. 12) Move your mouse over the top of the table where the table width appears. Click on the button that appears when your mouse is over the width. 13) From the list that appears select Clear All Widths. You won t see much change since the contents of the table will make it stretch to take up the available space anyway but there may be some situations where you won t want a specified width and would rather a table that is just wide enough to fit its contents 14) Save the changes and close the document. Note You can easily change the width of table columns by moving your mouse over the border between the columns (or rows) and then dragging them. Currently all of the rows within the table are set to middle vertical alignment by default. Top alignment is usually preferable. We could change the cell properties now, but we ll save ourselves some effort by doing it later on when we create styles for our site. Then we can do the whole lot in one go with far less effort. Online Forms Forms are used for a variety of purposes in websites. A form could be a simple one which sends submitted details to an email address, it could be a form which sends the submitted information to retrieve results from a database (such as a search engine) or it can be a part of something more complex such as an online shopping system. Some may include calculations to add up prices for an order and may include links to banking facilities to accept credit card details for orders. Creating a form requires a form handler to determine what happens when the website user clicks on the submit button. In most cases, form handlers need to be created using a language such as CGI, PHP or ASP which are beyond the scope of these exercises (though Dreamweaver does provide some help for these and other languages and can even do a lot of it for you). The part of the form done by HTML is the part that we will be creating in Dreamweaver. This includes all the components (objects) in the form such as text areas, radio buttons and combo boxes. Our form will be a simple form that takes some details from the user and then sends them directly to an email address without the need for a complex form handler, though a good form handling script will often provide better results. Tip Remember to check the code view every now and then or work in split view. Seeing the HTML that has just been created as you work in Dreamweaver will make it easy to learn more about HTML. Steve O Neil 2006 Page 7 of 13 http://www.oneil.com.au/pc/
Exercise 4 Creating the Form 1) Create a new page based on the same template we used in the last exercise. 2) Save the new page as ordering.html, replacing the existing page with that name. 3) Change the heading text and page title to Ordering. 4) Delete the text in the main area. 5) Enter the following text. To place an order for any of our products or to request our latest catalogue, complete the form below. 6) Press [Enter] to create a new blank line. 7) From the Insert menu select Form and then Form. A dashed red line will appear around the form area. It is important that any objects that are to be used by your form are within this area, otherwise they will be ignored by the form. 8) Make sure your cursor is within the red form area. We will change some of the form properties that will be displayed down in the Properties panel. 9) Enter orders for the form name. In our website the form name isn t crucial, but when you are creating a form to be used along with scripting and databases it can become important to name your form. 10) For Action enter the word MAILTO: followed by your own email address. This will mean that when the form is completed, the results will be sent to you. 11) Make sure Method is set to Post so that the form will send results. Some types of forms which need to retrieve instead of sending information (such as a form on a search page) will use the Get method instead. 12) Press [Enter] to create a new blank line within the form area. 13) From the Insert menu select Form and the Button. A submit button will be inserted by default but the options for the button are easy to change. 14) Select the button so that its properties are visible in the Properties panel. Change the Label property to Submit Details. This will change the text on the button itself. 15) Click after the button you have created and add a second button. We want this to be a reset button that will clear the form so set its properties as shown below. 16) Centre align the paragraph that the buttons are on. Next we will create the objects that will make up the form itself. First, we ll create a table that we will use to line everything up on the form. Steve O Neil 2006 Page 8 of 13 http://www.oneil.com.au/pc/
17) Click in the first blank line within the form (the area with the dashed red outline). 18) Insert a table that has 10 rows, 2 columns, no border, no specified width and 3 cell padding. There should also be no headers selected. Since we haven t specified a width, the table will look a little squashed until we ve put something in it. 19) Click in the first cell of the table and type Name:. 20) Click in the second cell of the first row (or press the [Tab] key to move to it). 21) From the Insert menu select Form and then Text Field. Make sure the text field you just inserted is selected so you can change the properties. 22) The properties along with an explanation of each are listed below. Make the changes indicated. Property Purpose Change to: TextField The name of the field generally used to identify each field in the form handler Name Char width Specifies a width for the box. Width is measured in 40 characters and can vary from one browser to another Max Chars Places a limit on the number of characters that can be Leave empty types in a box Single/Multi Line Changes between a text box (single) and text area (multi) Single Password Changes the textbox so that when a user enters text in to Leave it it, **** will appear rather than the text being typed. Normally used for login forms for restricted websites. Init Val Specifies text that will already be entered in to the box when the web page loads Leave empty 23) Do the same for the second row of the table. The only difference is that the text in the fist column will be Email Address: and the TextField property of the Text field will be email. 24) In the third row, enter the text Phone Number: in the first cell. In the second cell add a textbox the same as the previous ones with the TextField set to phone. 25) On the fourth row, enter the text Pot Name: in the first cell. In the second cell add a textbox the same as the previous ones with the TextField set to pot_name (with the underscore). 26) On the fifth row enter the text Quantity: in the first cell. In the second cell add a textbox the same as the previous ones with the TextField set to quantity and Char Width as 10. So far the field should be looking like the one on the following page. Steve O Neil 2006 Page 9 of 13 http://www.oneil.com.au/pc/
Time to try out some of the other types of form objects, staring with a combo box. 27) In the first cell of the sixth row type Location. In the next cell select Insert, then select Form and List/Menu. Change the name property to location. 28) Make sure Type is set to menu. This will make the list a drop-down style combo box. If List is selected, then the list will be a scrolling list with some additional options available (such as the number of rows visible in the list). 29) In the Properties panel, click on the List Values button. Here we can create the choices that will appear in the list. The Item Label will specify the text that will appear for each choice in the list. The Value specifies what will be submitted with the form when each option is selected. If no value is specified then the value will be the same as the Item Label. 30) In the Item Label section enter ACT, and in the Value section enter Australian Capital Territory. 31) Click the + button to add another item. Add additional items as shown on the next page. You can use the buttons to change their order if you need to. Steve O Neil 2006 Page 10 of 13 http://www.oneil.com.au/pc/
ACT NSW NT QLD SA TAS VIC WA --------------------- USA CANADA UK NEW ZEALAND 32) Click OK when they have all been entered. Note Australian Capital Territory New South Wales Northern Territory Queensland South Australia Tasmania Victoria Western Australia If you choose, you can specify an option to be selected by default by changing the Initially Selected property. 33) For the next row after the location we ll use a text area. In the fist cell of the row, type Address:. 34) In the second cell of the row, choose Insert, Form and then Textarea. 35) Set the properties for the text area as shown below. Note that the column width may end up being different widths in different we browsers. 36) The next row will use radio buttons. In the first cell of the next row type Gardening Skill:. 37) Select the next cell and then from the Insert menu, select Form and Radio Button. 38) Make sure the radio button you just inserted is selected so you can change the properties. 39) The properties along with an explanation of each are listed below. Make the changes indicated. Property Purpose Change to: Radio Button The name of the control normally radio buttons are in groups where only one can be selected at a time. If you want several of them to be a part of a group, make sure they all have the same value in this property. Skill Checked Value This specifies what information is sent with the form amateur results if this option is selected. Initial State If several radio buttons are part of a group, you can set a certain radio button to be selected by default. Make sure no more than one in a group as set to Checked. Unchecked 40) Next to the radio button type Amateur. Steve O Neil 2006 Page 11 of 13 http://www.oneil.com.au/pc/
41) Add two more radio buttons and text so that it looks like the example below. Each one should have a Radio button property similar to the text next to it. If you like you can set one of them to be checked by default. 42) For the next row, we ll merge both cells so that they become one cell. Select both cells in the row. 43) In the Properties panel, click on the Merge cells icon. This will cause the first cell to have the COLSPAN="2" attribute added to its table data (TD) tag while the second cell, which is no longer needed will be removed. Check the Code View ( [Ctrl] [`] ) to see the changes. 44) In the merged cell, enter the text Would you like to - followed by a blank space. 45) From the Insert menu select Form and Checkbox. 46) Complete the properties as follows. 47) Add some more text and another Checkbox so that it appears like the following example. Make sure the second checkbox has catalogue for the Name and Value properties. 48) For the last row, put the text Comments: in the first cell and another text area called Comments in the second cell. Make it the same size as the previous text area. 49) Delete any blank lines that may be between the table and the form buttons. The completed form should look like the following example Steve O Neil 2006 Page 12 of 13 http://www.oneil.com.au/pc/
50) Preview the page in your browser to see how the form looks. Try filling in the form and testing both the reset and submit. Note Since our form action is an email address it will open your email program to send an email which is not the best solution and may not work in some email programs. If you have an account with an internet service provider they may include a mailto script for their customer s websites which would be good to use in the form s action setting. Your school or workplace might also have something similar available. Alternatively, if you search the web, you will be able to find a wide range of form mailto scripts, though many of them require some knowledge of web servers to use. If you are going through these exercises in a class, ask your teacher if there is one available for your use. Steve O Neil 2006 Page 13 of 13 http://www.oneil.com.au/pc/